Laning was interviewed on the "Devil’s Advocates," a liberal radio talk show based in Milwaukee, on Jan. 5, 2018 -- 10 months ahead of the general election. Co-host Dominic Salvia said the Huffington Post reported that conservative groups had already spent $3 million against Baldwin. He asked Laning how Baldwin and the state Democratic Party could counteract that.

Laning replied with an even more eye-catching money claim, saying:

Well, I want you to know, first, that it's $5 million that's been spent against Tammy -- and it is five times more money spent against Tammy Baldwin, our senator, than all of the other U.S. Senate candidates up in 2018 combined. So, they are coming after Tammy Baldwin like no other.

That means Laning is claiming $5 million has been spent against Baldwin -- five times more than has been spent, in total, against all of the other Senate Democrat incumbents who are up for re-election in 2018.

The stakes

It won’t be known until after the August 2018 primary election which GOP opponent that Baldwin, who was elected in 2012, will face. So far, two suburban Milwaukee Republicans are running: State Sen. Leah Vukmir and political newcomer and former Marine Kevin Nicholson.

Including Baldwin, Democrats are defending 25 U.S. Senate seats in 2018 (two seats are held by independents who caucus with the Democrats). The New York Times says it’s a "tossup" as to whether Democrats can wrest control of the chamber from the GOP, which has a two-seat edge.

There are 10 Democratic senators [including Baldwin] up for re-election this year in states that Trump won. But if conservative groups’ spending is any indication, Wisconsin might be the hardest seat for Democrats to keep.

The numbers

The Huffington Post article was based on data collected by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which is based on reports made to the Federal Election Commission. So, we went to the center’s website to produce this breakdown on how much conservative groups have reported spending so far against Baldwin:

So, if you add what’s been spent in support of Nicholson to what’s been spent against Baldwin, that’s a total of $5.43 million.

And that figure is seven times more than the $758,101 that’s been spent against the other Senate Democrat incumbents, or for their opponents, according to the center.

It’s worth noting that the pro-Nicholson money, largely for ads promoting his personal background, are not against Baldwin in the same way as the money spent attacking her positions or votes.

But the pro-Nicholson money clearly is aimed at helping Nicholson win Baldwin’s seat.

A closing note

In defending Laning’s statement, the Wisconsin Democratic Party told us that a consultant for Baldwin’s campaign had determined that $5.5 million has been spent on ads directly against Baldwin -- $4.5 million on TV ads and $1 million on web ads. (Baldwin's campaign would not identify the consultant to us.)

This approach takes in additional spending, since not all the groups have to report to the Federal Election Commission.

But the consultant could not provide a comparable tally for the other Democratic incumbents.

Our rating

Laning says conservative groups have spent $5 million "against" Baldwin -- five times more than against all other Democratic U.S. Senate incumbents up for election in 2018 combined.

Based on reports to the Federal Election Commission that were analyzed by the Center for Responsive Politics, the total exceeds $5 million and is actually seven times more than what has been spent against the other Democrats. The only caveat is that $3 million has been spent directly attacking Baldwin, while the rest has been spent in support of one of her opponents.

For a statement that is accurate but needs clarification, our rating is Mostly True.

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